The local authority elections which took place across England, and the elections to the Scottish parliament and Welsh Assembly on 7th May have proved beyond question that the old two-party system (Labour and Conservatives) is broken. The big winners were Reform UK – a far-right populist party.
Not all council seats in England were being contested, so it is only possible to get a partial view of the complete situation but the direction of travel is clear. In the council elections Labour lost 1406 seats with Reform gaining almost the same number – 1442. The Conservatives lost 557 seats. There were gains for the Green Party – up by 374 seats and the Liberal Democrats – up by 151 seats. This therefore shows a huge surge in support for Reform across the English counties.
The situation in Wales shows a similar picture with Labour losing control of Wales for the first time. All of the Seats in Wales were being contested, so the picture is therefore complete: Plaid Cymru (Welsh Nationalists) 43 seats (+ 20), Labour 9 seats (- 35), Reform 34 seats (+ 34), Conservatives 7 seats (- 22), Greens 2 seats (+ 2), Liberal Democrats 1 seat (+ 1).
As with Wales, in Scotland, all the seats were being contested, so again the picture is complete: Scottish Nationalist Party 58 seats (-6), Labour 17 seats (- 4), Reform 17 seats (+ 17), Conservatives 12 seats (-19) Liberal Democrats 10 seats (+ 6). From these results we can see that in the case of Scotland, the increase in support for Reform UK seems to come from defections from the Conservatives, rather than Labour. This is a trend that was reflected in England and Wales when Reform UK first became a political force.
In England and Wales however, not only the election results but also recent polls show consistent low levels of support for Labour and Conservative parties and a corresponding increased willingness for voters to turn to Reform UK at least in local elections. If one tracks the polls back to the 2024 elections one can see a radical shift away from Labour. In July 2024 support for Labour stood at 39% with the Conservatives on 20% and Reform UK 16%. The most recent poll from PollCheck puts Labour on 19%, the Conservatives on 18% and Reform on 27%. The levels of support for Labour and the Conservatives have been fairly stable for the last twelve months but support for Reform has in fact declined from 33% in October 2025 to 27% according to the most recent poll. There appears to be a crumb of comfort from these figures because it seems to indicate that the level of support for Reform UK has at least plateaued and may be declining in response to their inept ability to run councils. However, at present there is no political party that can challenge them in elections. In a first past the post electoral system, it is inevitable that Reform UK will hoover up seats because no other party can match their level of support. If the local election results were mirrored in a General Election today Reform UK would win 323 seats-enough to form a government albeit with a tiny minority (and then only because Sinn Fein, does not take its seats).
The Green Party showed that it could challenge Reform in the Gorton and Denton Parliamentary by election that took place recently – taking the seat from Labour and ensuring that Reform finished second, but support for the Greens although stronger than it was twelve months ago – increasing from 9% in May 2025 to almost 16% today, appears to have also stalled from a high of 18% in March 2025.
In England there were also six Mayoral elections-five in London and also Watford. The Greens took two Labour Mayoral seats and Labour held onto one. There was no change in the other three seats, with Aspire (a local left of centre party) the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats taking one each. Labour is still the biggest party in London. This indicates stronger support for Labour and the Greens in London with voters less inclined to support Reform UK.
During all of this Your Party has stood on the sidelines – only offering support to a small number of candidates. In total Your Party backed 50 candidates and 25 stood on a Your Party ticket. This contrasts with the Trades Unionist and Socialist Coalition’s (TUSC) platform of over 750 candidates. TUSC has not produced its election report (this will not be available until 14th May) but the TUSC candidates were not officially backed by Your Party and such backing could have helped them to build a profile. From an initial look into TUSC results, they are proving to be modest. Of the 25 Your Party candidates who stood in the local elections, 23 results are in. Their lowest vote was 43 votes or 0.6% and their best vote was 123 votes or 3.5%. From 800,000 prospective members last summer to 0.6% to 3.5% of the vote in less than a year is a seismic collapse in popular support. According to the BBC, the four existing Your Party councillors who stood for re-election were all unsuccessful. Some Your Party backed candidates did get elected such as Aspire and Newham Socialist Labour candidates, but this success was based much more on their local campaigning over several years than any support from Your Party. It is unclear how many candidates the Workers Party of Great Britian stood although according to their website they aimed for 1000 candidates and did have at least on elected.
This is a very negative election for socialists in Britain. The rise of Reform UK has not been countered from the left and an opportunity to build an opposition to them has been delayed by the bureaucrats who have control of Your Party. There is already some evidence, that once in power, Reform UK councillors prove to be lacking competence and lose some popular support when their reactionary policies are put into action. Without a credible alternative it seems likely that Reform UK is here to stay, at least in the medium term. The political space is crying out for a radical left alternative. The momentum gained by Your Party less than twelve months ago when 800,000 people expressed an interest has been cynically derailed by the self-appointed leadership of Your Party who show no urgency to challenge the rise of the far right and right-wing populist ideas. Those still working within Your Party for a radical left party will at least for a time continue to work for that aim. Whatever happens with Your Party there will be a time when a new worker’s party, built from the ground up but perhaps growing much more slowly than previously seemed possible, could emerge.
The election results themselves prove emphatically that large numbers of voters have rejected once and for all the old two-party system and that possibilities for new formations coming to prominence are possible. Any new left formation needs to be built by every means possible: on the streets, knocking on doors and using all forms of media. This is likely to be a lengthy process – building amongst youth and exploring the good will and decency that exists in most people. Socialist ideas are popular but are not put before people consistently in their communities. Those ideas have been completely abandoned by Labour as they abandoned the people who would benefit. The trade unions along with all left voices needs to wake up to this and build for struggle against reaction – reject the Labour lies and connect up those who want a better future. Trade unions should stop backing Labour and find a new party to finance. That party can only now be built with care and patience from a truly democratic base. Whether such a party emerges from the current Your Party formation or elsewhere, remains to be seen.
